BY AARON RECUENCO
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The Philippine National Police (PNP) has deployed all its available vehicles to ferry more stranded passengers as commuting in Metro Manila and nearby areas remain a challenge amid as the country continues to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Under the agency’s Libreng Sakay (free ride) program, PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa said all the vehicles have been grouped to cater to several routes, mostly in areas with the most number of commuters based on the observation since the start of the lockdown on March 17.
As of July 8, Gamboa said a total of 22,461 stranded health workers and commuters have been assisted by PNP vehicles that include buses and troop carriers.
“There are designated pickup and drop points within Metro Manila and nearby areas under our Libreng Sakay (free ride) program,” said Gamboa.
The Libreng Sakay is operational daily from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 9 p.m., considered as the rush hours.
“We have been observing physical distancing during loading and unloading of passengers by reducing its load capacity to 50% and disinfection is being conducted before and after every trip,” said Gamboa.
During the early stage of the lockdown, thousands of commuters were forced to walk for several hours to report for work and go back to their respective homes as operation of public transportation was suspended.
Though bicycling has been the new mode, the government has just started its plan for bicycle lanes in major roads, except for some Local Government Units which were quick to set up bike lanes in their respective areas.
